When election activities in Mexico are conducted in English, we’ll think about it. Until then, trying to turn Woodbridge further into an adjunct of a central American bananna republic is absolutely out of the question, as is your suitability as a candidate for elected office in the United States of America.

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§7.1-42. English designated the official language of the Commonwealth.

English shall be designated as the official language of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Except as provided by law, no state agency or local government shall be required to provide and no state agency or local government shall be prohibited from providing any documents, information, literature or other written materials in any language other than English.

Oh Maureen, please dont try to use the LAW as an example, we all know how many politicians actually follow the law. Most of them think the laws are for the “common” people, not them.

Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, “Improper Entry by Alien,” any citizen of any country other than the United States who:

* Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or
* Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or
* Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact;

has committed a federal crime.

Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.

Furthermore, the Federal Immigration and Nationality Act Section 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii) goes on to state, “Encouraging and Harboring Illegal Aliens - It is a violation of law for any person to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection in any place, including any building or means of transportation, any alien who is in the United States in violation of law. HARBORING MEANS ANY CONDUCT THAT TENDS TO SUBSTANTIALLY FACILITATE AN ALIEN TO REMAIN IN THE U.S. ILLEGALLY. The sheltering need not be clandestine, and harboring covers aliens arrested outdoors, as well as in a building. This provision includes harboring an alien who entered the U.S. legally but has since lost his legal status.

If Tito received his citizenship only in [08] and was married for 16 years to a US citizen, I was under the impression and suprised he did not apply sooner as marrying a citizen would only take a shot time, so was he here as an illegal? Can’t be??

Not being fluent in English would be a real negative to a candidate, I’m sure, but I can’t see any problem with a candidate who has good language skills in addition to English using those to communicate with large voting blocs in his district. Around here we have significant numbers of voters who speak Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese, Urdu, etc. If a candidate wants to take his message to those voters in their own language and has the capability to do it, why not?

Well, if they’re registered,they’re eligible, Cynic. Not sure what you’re trying to say. If you’re hinting that people whose first language is other than English are likely to commit voter fraud, I don’t think there’s any good statistical evidence of that.

Well, let’s get to the point, man. Are you saying that communities of people whose first language is other than English have high (or higher) rates of illegal voting than communities whose first language is English? If so, how do we know this? If my grandparents spoke German primarily, but my parents acquired facility with English as children, did learning the dominant language make them less prone to vote illegally? Why does that happen, if it does happen?